Wednesday, December 31, 2008

President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy

I am following up my post of December 11th to let you know that the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy will present its annual report on January 6th. The meeting is open to the public. To find out more, click here.


-John

Thursday, December 11, 2008

President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy

Just in case you weren't convinced of the importance of youth financial literacy...The President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy (yes, there is one) is releasing a draft recommendation on how to advance advance financial literacy in the US (check out the top link).

-to expand and improve financial education for students from kindergarten through post-secondary education;

-to support the increasingly important role of employers as providers and conduits of financial education for their employees;

-to increase access to financial services for the millions of unbanked and underserved Americans;

-to identify and promote a standardized set of skills and behaviors that a financial education program should teach an individual; and

-to promote more awareness among Americans of the state of financial literacy and dedicate more resources toward educating Americans on how to improve that.

Granted, these are only recommendations, but it shines a bright light on the importance of teaching young kids (not to mention teens and adults) to share and save and spend smart. Lack of financial literacy in the US is like a disease that has infected our economy badly. It's so important that we marshall as many resources as possible to cure this disease.

You can find out more about the council by clicking here.